Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: Transiting brown dwarfs as the key to understanding substellar formation mechanisms

塞隆·卡迈克尔被授予数学和物理科学上升博士后研究奖学金(MPS-Ascend)，在马诺阿的哈瓦伊大学开展研究和教育项目。他计划研究凌日棕矮星的数量，这是银河系中充当行星和恒星之间桥梁的稀有天体。他将在马诺阿的教师研究体验(RET)和夏威夷学生/教师天文学研究(HI STAR)项目中担任导师，以提高来自夏威夷原住民社区和其他未被充分代表的背景的学生对天文学研究的参与。Carmichael将测量新发现的凌日棕矮星的质量、半径和年龄，以更深入地了解它们的形成机制和演化。这些测量值将与旨在预测棕矮星质量和半径随时间演变的恒星下演化模型进行比较。通过这项工作，卡迈克尔将探索褐矮星停止形成巨行星的方式，并开始形成更像恒星的质量范围。他还将探索恒星辐射对凌日棕矮星半径演化的影响。Carmichael计划利用褐矮星科学作为这些年轻科学家成长的丰富学习环境来指导和建议初级研究人员。他将利用他过去在导师角色中的经验来帮助这些科学家识别、理解和克服他们在成为成熟的天文学研究人员和未来的领导者时可能面临的系统性障碍。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Theron Carmichael is awarded a Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and education at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. He plans to study the population of transiting brown dwarfs, which are rare objects that serve as the bridge between planets and stars in the Milky Way galaxy. He will serve as a mentor in the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) and the Hawai’i Student/Teacher Astronomy Research (HI STAR) programs at Manoa to improve the participation of students from the Native Hawaiian community and other underrepresented backgrounds in astronomy research.Carmichael will take measurements of the masses, radii, and ages of newly discovered transiting brown dwarfs in order to gain a deeper understanding of their formation mechanisms and evolution. These measurements will be compared against substellar evolution models that aim to predict how brown dwarf masses and radii evolve over time. Through this work, Carmichael will explore the mass range at which brown dwarfs stop forming the way giant planets do and begin to form more like stars. He will additionally explore the effects of stellar irradiation on the radius evolution of transiting brown dwarfs. Carmichael plans to mentor and advise junior researchers using brown dwarf science as a rich learning environment for these young scientists to grow. He will use his past experience in mentorship roles to help these scientists identify, understand, and overcome the systemic barriers they may face as they become full-fledged researchers and future leaders in astronomy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.